Dr Jacqueline Short1,2
1Te Korowai Whariki Central Region Forensic & Rehabilitation Inpatient Services, 2Mental Health, Addiction & Intellectual Disability Service (MHAIDS)
We live in a world of constant change. Societal values shift, scientific knowledge expands and understandings of the human psyche evolve. Constructs and theories of complex phenomena such as family violence, trauma and mental disorder, which sit at the interface of psychology, psychiatry and law, are shaped into models, frameworks and classifications, to structure and simplify their understanding. While constructions of intimate partner violence, which draw on a range of theories, including the biopsychosocial, feminist and criminological, may have validity outside the courtroom, do they have validity in the criminal courts? Whose expert evidence is it to give? What are the challenges for experts and the courts when new (and particularly counter-intuitive) understandings are presented, and what are the implications of these challenges for defendants who should expect the court to have every assistance available to it to reach a just decision? This presentation seeks to highlight the shifts that have occurred in our constructions of intimate partner violence and the factors that may influence the acceptance or otherwise, of their validity when matters relating to intimate partner violence come before the criminal court.